Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Thirteen Reasons Why


Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher tells the story of Hannah Baker’s suicide. She has recorded cassette tapes to be delivered from person to person (a total of 13), telling the story of what brought her to commit suicide. The story is narrated by Clay Jensen (person #9) as we listen with him to the tapes. This is a young adult novel about how careless and sometimes cruel high school students can be.
I liked the way the book was structured by weaving the narrator’s story with that in the tapes. I sometimes got confused early on, because the tape transcript is in italics – that’s the only indication that you’re hearing Hannah’s voice and not Clay’s. It was a compelling read, but the timing was wrong for me – I needed something more uplifting.
Some of you might enjoy the book; I’ll bring it with me on Monday. (Yes! It’s a print book!)

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